


4^ 



TMK RKIvATIONS 



OF THE 



TOWN AND THE STATE. 



An Hi^Torigai, 'Addre;^^ 



DELIVEKEr) AT THE 



ENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



OF THE I^X•ORPORATION OF 



l^iTTl,e)Ton 



JULY 4, 1884, 



BV 



A. S. BATCHELLOR 



WITH AN APPENDIX. 



PATRIOT STEAM JOB PRINT, 
CONCORD, N. H. 




Glass Fi/^Lf- 

Book L 




THR RELATIONS 



TOWN AND THE STATE. 



An Hi^^origai, Addfie;^^ 



DELIVERED AT THE 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



OF THE INCORPORATION OF 



L^ITTL/E)T0N 



JULY 4, 1884, 



BY 



\y 



A. S. BATCHELLOR, 

'I 



WITH AN APPENDIX. 



PATRIOT STEAM JOB PRINT, 
CONCORD, N. H. 



jfelvy 



1G454 

• LIBS 




THE EELATIONS OF LITTLETON AND THE STATE, 



ADDRESS BY A. S. BATCHELLOR. 



The President said : Although it was said of Littleton, 
in its early days, that it was too poor to live in, and that the 
roads were so bad that those that did live here could not get 
away, yet it has proved, in the end, that Littleton has not 
lived to itself alone. It has sent its men abroad, and its influ- 
ence has received its due weight in the councils of the State. 

We will now listen to remarks from Mr. A. S. Batchellor,. 
who has not only a place in the history of Littleton, but in 
that of New Hampshire, as to the relations of Littleton and 
the State. 

ADDRESS. 

Mr. President and Townsmen : 

Any one of our prosperous New Hampshire towns is a 
fair representative of the New England town system. These 
local municipalities are the schools in which many of the 
founders of the Republic received their political education, 
and they may well be regarded as the political basis of the 
best systems of govermnent that have yet been developed. A 
consideration of the relations of one of these towns to the 
state with which it is organized, which would not transcend 
the requirements of such an occasion as this, must be limited, 
in a great measure, to those features of the subject which are 
not common to all that belong to the same system. The re- 
marks that follow are offered with an intention to treat the 
subject in the restricted sense, and to touch only upon those 
points which may have special interest to the people ot 
Littleton. 



THE KINGS WOODS. 



The first that is known of the territory upon which Chis- 
wick, Apthorp and Littleton were successively laid, indicates 
that it was once the abode of the Indians of the Abenaquis na- 
tion. The tribe that dwelt in the immediate vicinity was the 
Cohasaukes. Their principal trails or carrying places were 
along the valleys of the Connecticut and Ammonoosuc rivers. 
Over these they passed in their fishing, hunting and maraud- 
ing expeditions. These are the same routes that have been 
successively followed by the early hunters and trappers, the 
■exploring expeditions of Powers and Stark, the rangers of the 
French and Indian wars, the pioneer settlers, the soldiers and 
scouts of the war of the Revolution, and the surveyors, build- 
ers and travelers of our principal highways. Few of you are 
too young to remember the old daily mail stages to Lancaster, 
alternating over the Ammonoosuc and the Connecticut river 
routes. The old Ammonoosuc Indian trail is now the line of 
the railway. Sixteen trains daily bear the burdens of civiliza- 
tion over its iron, and suggest the memory of the dusky 
Indian travelers of the ancient forest valley only by the mag- 
nitude of the contrast. 

No local mementoes of Indian occupancy within our 
limits remain, save the names they gave the rivers : Ammo- 
noosuc,* the Fish-Place {Najuaos Auke) , and Connecticut, the 
Long-Deer-Place (^^uinne-Attuck-Auke) . 

As early as 1752 this region began to attract special ofii- 
cial attention. 

In 1754, our Provincial government, becoming suspicious 
that the French might be building a fort in the Coos country, or 
taking other active measures to assert jurisdiction of this re- 
gion, sent Capt. Peter Powers, with John Stark as guide, at 
the head of a small military expedition, or scout, to explore 
the valley and ascertain the facts about the rumored hostile 
occupation. On the 29th of June, this party passed up the 
west part of the present Littleton. On their return, they spent 



*Many of the best authorities on our local history and the Indian nomencla- 
ture give but one m in this word and a A; at the end; but custom has made the 
Bpelling, Ammonoosuc, almost universal. 



the fourth of July in marching twenty miles, "about," as 
Capt. Powers wrote, over the site of this village, along "the 
meadows" and down the Ammonoosuc valley. This was 
twenty-two years before the first Independence Day. These 
were the first official visitations, by authority of the Province 
government, made within the present limits of Littleton. 

The Coos country continued, during the progress of the 
French and Indian war, to be nothing but a wilderness fron- 
tier, and received the attention of government only as a part 
of its domain, which was at stake in the great contest, to be 
held and defended. 

The peace of 1760 laid open the region of the upper Con- 
necticut, as the most promising destination of the surplus pop- 
ulation of lower New England. Its advantages for settlement 
were made known by the soldiers and hunters who had trav- 
ersed it. The river was a natural highway, which made it 
accessible by boats in summer and by sleds in winter. 

In 1760 the Provincial government, preparatory to the ex- 
pected movement of settlers up the valley, caused a survey 
of the river to be made northward from Chaidestown, N. H., 
to the north east corner of what was afterwards granted as 
Newbury, and the next year a continuation of the same survey 
w^as made bv Hu g - hbaatio Neel,* to the north end of the great 
meadows, called the Upper Coos. From these surveys a plan 
was made, three tiers of townships on each side of the river 
projected, and several of them chartered without any further 
actual survey on the ground. The demand for land, not only 
for settlement in good faith, but also for speculation, was by 
these me^ns very fully met. 

CHISWICK. 

By the grant of Lancaster on the north, Lyman on the 
south, and Concord, with its gore, running steeple fashion, 
to an apex at the south-easterly corner of Lancaster, a tract, 
bounded by those townships and Connecticut river was left 



♦History of Bradford, Vt., p. 10, Dr. Moore states that this survey was made 
by Gen. Bailey, and cites the authority of the late Jolin McDuffee, of Bradford, 
"Vt., and Dr. McKeen, the historian of Bradford, seems to rely upon the same au- 
thority for his proposition. 



ungranted. - Through some error, Gov. Wentworth, the next 
year after granting Concord, now Lisbon, laid another grant 
called Chiswick,* upon the larger part of Concord. Discov- 
ering his mistake, he compensated the proprietors of this in- 
valid grant by giving them, instead, the tract bounded by 
Lancaster, Concord, Lyman and Connecticut river. This, 
too, was named Chiswick. No settlement of the township, 
however, was effected. After the expiration of five years from 
the date of the chaiter, the proprietors admitted a forfeiture 
and petitioned for a new grant of the same territory. 

A settlement of Lancaster had been made about the time 
of the grant of Chiswick. The proprietors of Lancaster, by 
some means, procured a new survey, which located their 
township further up the river, bringing the lower line more 
than three and one-half miles further north, f and the upper 
line a considerable distance to the northward. Thus a large 
amount of what is now^ Dalton was abandoned and a good 
slice of Stonington intervale appropriated. The proprietors 
of Chiswick so managed it that the land abandoned by the 
Lancaster parties was included in the new grant, which was 
to supersede Chiswick. 



* For an aucient towii.ship map of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, 
showing tlie location of tlie lirst Chiswick, see Governor and Council Records, 
Vt., vol. 8, p. 430. 

fin 17S0, Ebenezer Willoughby ran out the distance in a right line and made it 
three miles, two hundred and twenty rods. Chiswic^k's southeast corner was three 
miles and ninety-two rods S., 20 E., from the northeast corner of Lyman. The 
easterly side line of Chiswick was theuce N.,'20 E., about six miles to the south- 
east corner of Lancaster. This was also the North corner of Concord Gore. The 
north line of Chiswick ran N., 26 W., about seven miles to the river. By laying 
oflf these distances on a township map one can readily ascertain where the proper 
boundaries of these towns would be with reference to existing locations. If 
the easterly line of Chiswick is taken as six miles, its north line would be south 
of the present south line of Lancaster, about seven and three-fourths miles on the 
Bethlehem line, and about six and seven-tenths miles on a straight line down Con- 
necticut river. The old Chiswick line cut the Bethlehem line at a point about a 
mile above the Scythe Factory village, and would probably cross the farms of 
Chester M. Goodwin, George E. Bartlett, Smith E. Jones, Luther B. Towne, and 
the old Rix place on the Connecticut river, now occupied by Milo C. Pollard. The 
migratory character of that important boundary, the southeast corner of Lancas- 
ter, made a vast deal of confusion as to the true location of Concord Gore, and as 
to the tracts that in early times depended upon it for boundaries. 



APTHORP. 



The second grant was called Apthorp and was made Jan- 
uary i8, 1770. A settlement was eftected in the spring of that 
year, but it is doubtful if it attracted the attention of the British 
colonial government, at any time in the period of its existence 
after the perfection of the grant, and until the dispersion of the 
British officials by the revolt of New Hampshire. A re- 
ceiver of quit- rents was, indeed, located at Haverhill, the 
county seat. Possibly that department had some fiscal rela- 
tions with the infant town, its settlers or proprietors. But the 
number of polls in Apthorp was but three, as late as 1775. 
Such a community would naturally be regarded as of trivial 
importance (even as a tax-paying institution) by a govern- 
ment that was trembling before the uprising of a revolution 
that rapidly developed force sufficient to throw oft' the English 
dominion and dismember the empire. 

REPRESENTATION OF APTHORP. 

The policy of the Wentworths had been to restrict rep- 
resentation in the Provincial assemblies. The first Provincial 
congress, as the revolutionary legislatures at that time were 
designated, met at Exeter on the 21st of July, 1774. Others 
followed ; the second, January 25, 1775, and the third, April 21, 
in the same year. A fourth convened at Exeter on the 17th of 
May. The rolls of membership have not been preserved for 
all of these bodies. There is no reason to suppose, however, 
that any of the towns situated as far north as Apthorp were 
represented until the assembling of the fourth congress. In 
that body, Abijah Earned,* of Cockburne (now Columbia) , ap- 
peared as a representative. No other town lying north of 
Gunthwaite (now Lisbon) was represented. This congress 
adopted a plan of representation for the future. According to 
that plan, "Apthorp, Lancaster, Northumberland, Stratford, 
Cockburne, Colburn, Conway, Shelburne and the towns above" 
were classed, with the privilege of sending one representative. 



* For sketch of Capt. Lamed, see Learned Genealogy, p. 45, by W. L. Learned. 
Albany, N. Y., 1882. 



The president of this congress was authorized to send a pre- 
cept to the selectmen of Lancaster for the purposes of an elec- 
tion of the representative for the class. The next congress 
was to meet at Exeter on the 21st day of December, 1775, and 
the term of office was one year. Capt. Larned was returned to 
that congress from the Apthorp class. The fifth congress 
assembled according to the proposed plan. On the 5th day ot 
January, 1776, this congress resolved itself into a house of rep- 
resentatives or assembly for the Province of New Hampshire. 
Thus the fifth New Hampshire congress became the first 
New Hampshire house of representatives or assembly. This 
Act of January 5, moreover, was our first written state constitu- 
tion and the first of any American state. Provision was made for 
a council, to be a separate and distinct branch of the legisla- 
ture, the members of which were to be chosen by counties and 
not by the state at large. Grafton county had one member 
under the apportionment of councillors. Real estate owners 
were alone eligible to the office of representative. 

A REBELLION WITHIN A REVOLUTION. 

In its provisions concerning representation, this constitu- 
tion was exceedingly distasteful to the people of Grafton 
county, inhabiting the Connecticut valley below Lancaster.* 

*The grantees of these townships were for the most part from Connecticut, 
though a considerable number were from Massachusetts, and a few from Rhode 
Island. As a rule, also, the first settlers came from the locality of the grantees; 
so that for many yeai-s the Connecticut element in the population predominated. 
Under their hberal charters the settlers speedily developed a system of town gov- 
ernment surpassing in its spirit of independence and unbridled democracy even 
that of its prototype, the Massachusetts and Connecticut town. Their remoteness 
from the seat of Provincial government at Portsmouth, the sparseness of the pop- 
ulation and the conscciiunt danger from the Indians, naturally led to this result, 
among a people already by previous training deci)lv imlnied with the idea of local 
self-government. The strength of the religious sentiment and the almost univer- 
sal prevalence of Congregationalism as a form of belief and of church poUty, 
greatly intensified this sentiment and lent a powerful impulse to all its manifesta- 
tions. There was scarcely a function of civil government which these fierce little 
repubhcs did not essay during the first twenty years of their existence. In the 
very beginning of the settlements, so manifest was this spirit of republicanism, 
that New York used it as an argument to the home government against New 
Hampshire's claim to jurisdiction West of ' the Connecticut; representing to the 
Lords of Trade and Plantations that " the New p:ngland Governments are formed 
on Republican principles, and these principles are zealously inculcated on their 
youth in opposition to the ininciples of the Constitution of Great Britain. The 
government of New York, on the contrary, is estalilishcd as nearly as may be, 
after the model of the English Constitution'. Can it, then, be good policy to dimin- 
ish the extent of Jurisdiction in His Majesty's Province of New York, to ex- 
tend the power and influence to the other " And it cannot be doubted that it was 
the "pohcy" here suggested, rather than any principle of law or equity, which 
made the Connecticut the boundary between the rival provinces. 

Proceedings Conn. Valley Hist. Soc. 1880, p. 157. 



They promptly repudiated the form of government. Here 
was thebeginningof acivil conflict of great bitterness, and only 
second in importance, during the time of its continuance, to 
the contest for Independence. 

The views of the people of this vicinity can be well ascer- 
tained from the statement which they made in explanation of 
their refusal to send a representative according to the precept 
sent for the towns of Haverhill, Bath, Lyman, Gunthwaite, 
Landaft'and Morristown. 

"At a meeting legally named, in consequence of a pre- 
cept from the Assembly at Exeter, for the purpose of choosing 
a representative, also to give in their votes for a Counsellor for 
the county of Grafton^ having refused a compliance with said 
precept, have chosen us, the subscribers, a committee to return 
the precept, together with the reasons of their non-compliance, 
which reasons are as follows, viz. : First, because no plan of 
Representation has yet been found in this state consistent with 
the liberties of a free people ; and it is our humble opinion, 
that when the Declaration of Independence took place, the 
Colonies were absolutely in a state of nature, and the powers 
of the people reverted to the people at large, and of conse- 
quence annihilated the political existence of the Assembly 
which then was. Secondly, because the precept directs to 
have a number of different towns (who have an undoubted 
right to act by themselves separately) unite for the purpose of 
choosing a Representative and Counsellor.* Thirdly, because 
we are limited in our choice of a Representative to a person 
who has a real estate of two hundred pounds, lawful money ; 
whereas we conceive that every elector is capable of being 
elected. Fourthly, because that no bill of rights has been 
drawn up, or form of government come into, agreeably to the 
minds of the people of this state, by any Assembly peculiarly 
chosen for the purpose, since the Colonies were declared inde- 
pendent of the Crown of Great Britaijt. Fifthly, because if 
a council is necessary, every elector ought to have a choice of 
each counsellor, and not to be restricted to any particular 
limits within this state. 



*As a matter of fact, Col. Timothy Bedel represented at one of the sessions of 
the Vermont Assembly three or more of these protesting towns ; but, undgubted- 
ly, he was chosen by the different constituencies, acting individually, and not in 
classes. 

Records of Governor and Council, Vt. Vol. 3, p. 299. 



lO 

Foi» which reasons we protest against a Counsellor being 
chosen in this county, as directed in the precept. 

Ephraim Wesson, Elisha Cleaveland, 

John Young, James Bailey, 

John Clark, Committee. 

Haverhill, December 13th, 1776." 

Similar protests were made by other towns in the Con- 
necticut valley, but none was offered in the Upper Coos class. 

All the protests doubtless had a common origin in a con- 
ference of representative men of the disaffected towns, held at 
the College Hall in Hanover (then Dresden) in the previous 

July- 

This dissatisfaction resulted in an open revolt of these 
towns from the government of New Hampshire during the 
period of the war. They sent representatives to conventions 
of the towns holding similar views, on the disputed questions, 
at Charlestown, Hanover, Cornish and other places. At one 
period they considered themselves annexed to Vermont, and 
were represented in her legislature. Their local concerns 
they managed so far as practicable in town meetings, and, as 
to matters whereon co-operation was required, neighboring 
towns associated. together and acted through a representative 
agency called a Committee of Safety. 

DIVIDED ALLEGIANCE OF APTHORP. 

Apthorp must have been more or less affected by these 
various political movements and organizations, and its relations 
to them were of a peculiar character. 

As a member of the Lancaster class, it was represented 
in the legislature of New Hampshire every year from i775> 
to the adoption of a new constitution for the state in 1 784. 

It was also admitted to representation as an individual 
town in the State of Vermont, June 11, 1778. In the act of 
the Vermont assembly of that date it was set forth "that six- 
teen* towns in the north-western part of said grants have as- 

*Dresden, the territory in which was Dartmouth College, was represented in 
this Vermont Assembly as a separate town, as was Hanover. Counting these as 
two towns, seventeen were represented. 

Records of Governor and Council, Vt., Vol. 1, p. 275. 



sented to a union with this state agreeably to articles mutually 
proposed." 

Apthorp was expressly named as one of those sixteen 
towns, but whether it was individually represented in the Ver- 
mont Assembly, and, if so, by whom, does not appear. 

This union was soon interrupted by the refusal of the 
Vermont Assembly to create a separate county for these and 
neighboring towns on this side of the river. On the 22d of 
February, 1781, the same union with Vermont was revived, or 
a similar one negotiated. Gunthwaite, Morristown (now 
Franconia), and Lancaster were among the towns east of the 
river that are said to have made returns, at this later period, 
according to "an Union with Vermont."* 

Thus the nearest settled towns on both sides of Apthorp 
seem to have been in the movement at this time.f 

There is abundant evidence, however, of a serious division 
of sentiment among the inhabitants of many of the towns, 
which, as political organizations, joined the union or favored 
separation from New Hampshire under some plan. 

It may be remarked that Apthorp, in 1773, had but a total 
population of 14. There were but three married men in the 
number. In 1782, there were but nine polls reported. No 
larger number is given for any year of the war period. How- 
ever violent, therefore, party spii'it may have been in Apthorp, 
the factions, whether for New Hampshire, Vermont or a new 
state, separate from either, must have been, numerically, rather 
small. 

There are indications that the Caswells were the New 
Hampshire party. 

The old Captain, in times of danger, seems to have be- 
taken himself, with his fomily, to the fort at Northumberland, in 
preference to Haverhill. His sons, as soon'as their age would 

*The towns in this part of the valley, were made part of Orange County, and 
they constituted a Probate District, called the Haverhill Probate District. Geu. 
Israel Morey of Orford, was Probate Judge, 1781--2. Slade's State Papers, Vt., 472. 

Records of Governor and Council, Vt., Vol. 2, p. 110. 

fJustices of the Peace were appointed by Vermont authority, for Lyman and 
Mon-istown among other towns east of the "river, but no recoi'd of any such ap- 
pointments for Apthorp has been found. 

Records of Governor and Council, Vt., Vol. 2, p. 96. 



12 

admit*of it, entered the army. Col. Whipple of Dartmouth 
(now Jeflerson) and Capt. Eames alternately represented the 
class in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, after 
Capt. Larned's second term, until 1 7S4. So far as their conduct, 
as we are informed concerning it at this time, can be taken as 
guide for our opinion, it may be concluded that the Cas- 
wells affiliated with Eames and Whipple. These men were 
undoubtedly loyal to New Hampshire. 

On the other hand, the classification of Apthorp with the 
towns north of it might have been made without reference to 
the preference of the inhabitants ; and Capt. Caswell might 
have gone to Northumberland, strictly under military orders, 
as commander of the garrison or a scout, and not by his own 
choice. These things might be possible, while at the same 
time, as a Connecticut man, he could entertain the New Con- 
necticut ideas of the rights of the towns, and, as a friend of 
Gen. Morey and Gen. Bailey, he could sympathize with them 
in their desires for the establishment of a new state, or a re- 
modelled Vermont, which should include the Grafton towns 
near the river, wnth a seat of government in the Connecticut 
valley. It is not yet absolutely determined who were the other 
inhabitants of Apthorp at the time of nullification in the 
grants. 

The Hopkinsons were undoubtedly here, as well as the 
Caswells. Though Capt. Peleg Williams came at a later date 
than the others mentioned, he also may have been in town 
early enough to aid these movements. He was from Charles- 
town, N. H., where the ideas of the agitators for a separation 
flourished to a considerable extent. 

Some of our people must have co-operated with Col. 
Bedel of Bath, the Youngs of Gunthwaite, or other party 
leaders in the disaffected towns, to identify Apthorp with their 
schemes. The record shows very conclusively that it was 
effected, in a measure at least, by some means. But the an- 
nexation of this or any other town east of the river to Vermont, 
and the scheme of forming the state of New^ Connecticut from 
a union ot the valley towns, ceased to be a practical question, 
after Vermont, in 1782, with the full approbation of the Con- 



13 

tinental congress, if not by some mild coercion from that 
quarter, finally disavowed any claim of jurisdiction beyond 
the west bank of the Connecticut river. So far as Apthorp's 
connection with the Vermont union, or a new state, was con- 
cerned, it was, at the most, hardly more than a school-girl 
flirtation before the age of consent. 

TOWN ORGANIZATION. 

The only written evidences of any municipal organization 
of Apthorp, that have come to light at the present day, are a 
paragraph in Bouton's Province and State Papers (Vol. 8, p. 
868) which is as follows: — "Account Jeremiah Eames for 
holding town meetings in Gunthwaite and Apthorp, — paid 
iC24," and which indicates some corporate organization and 
action prior to June 28, 1781, the date of the record; and a 
passage of Nathan Caswell's letter of June 3, 1786. He writes 
that " precepts have been sent to the selectmen of Apthorp." 
This might have been done through a mistake of the state offi- 
cials, based upon a premature assumption that town officers 
had been chosen ; but Dr. Moore suggests the probability that 
there were town officials who failed to preserve records of the 
town for want of books. It is, on the whole, a reasonable 
conjecture that there may have been an organization of the 
town before its division in 1784^ which the diligence of mod- 
ern investigation may hereafter conclusively determine ; but 
the historical data available at this time does not seem to justify 
a positive conclusion. 

APTHORP AND THE WAR. 

The people of Apthorp, no doubt, did their whole duty in 
sustaining the cause of the colonies, and in the common de- 
fence against Canadian incursions. As has already been inti- 
mated, there were seasons when the township was abandoned 
and the non-combatants lodged in the forts for safety, while 
the fighting men ranged the futher frontiers in scouts, or fought 
the common enemy in the regiments of rangers, or of the line. 
Every house was a military out-post, and every citizen a 
minute man. 



H 

Xhey forgot the controversies over the boundaries of states, 
and knew^ no parties when the work of war with a common 
enemy was to be performed. The pioneers of Apthorp bore 
far more than the common burdens of war. Savages lurked 
in the forest, tories intrigued in the settlements, and the armies 
of England hovered for seven years upon the near border, 
now threatening, and now invading the intervening settlements. 
Practically, the town remained within the scene of hostilities 
from the beginning to the end of the Revolution. 

TAXATION IN APTHORP. 

While the grants were indulging in their " futile dal- 
liance " with secession, the New Hampshire state govern- 
ment was, nevertheless, prosecuting the war for independence 
with vigor. Taxes were laid to meet the heavy demands made 
upon the treasury. Of the thirty-one towns in Grafton county, 
assessed in 1778, Apthorp was the sixteenth in amount, and 
bore the proportion of £1 is. 5 3-4d. to every £1000 of the 
whole tax. The proportion of Apthorp in the tax of June 
27, 17S0, to supply the army with beef, was 850 pounds, in 
a total of 73,463 pounds for the county of Grafton. The beef 
levy of January 37, 1781, called for an aggregate of 101,100 
pounds from Grafton county and 1060 pounds from Apthorp. 
By the act of August 30, 1781, "for supplying the Conti- 
nental army with ten thousand gallons of West India rum," 
Apthorp was required to raise 71-2 gallons. It was also pro- 
vided that good New England rum might be furnished instead, 
in the proportion of six quarts of New England rum for one 
gallon West India rum. For each gallon in arrears, or unde- 
livered, the town would forfeit one Spanish milled dollar, or 
other gold or silver equivalent. It is very doubtful if the town 
was then able to raise so much rum, even for so worthy a 
cause. If it be considered how slight a matter it is to raise 
71-2 gallons of the article for any purpose at the present day, 
an idea may be had of the potent advances of civilization in a 
century of the Cohos country. In such comparisons, it may 
not be well to emphasize the clause of the act which required 



15 
^ood New England rum, for says a modern proverbial phi- 
losopher, in eloquent apostrophe :-" Farewell, good old New 
England rum with some tanzy in ye. Thou hast gone ! Yes, 
thou hast gone to that bourne from which no good spirits come 

back "* 

It appears, from the best evidence attainable, that some, at 
least, of these assessments remained in arrears for many years. 
Capt. Caswell probably referred to rum and beef, as well as 
money, when, on the 3d of June, 1786, he wrote that : " The 
inhabitants * * * being poor and much exposed to our 
enemy during said war, never paid any taxes into the treasury 

of said state. "t , , . . . 

Arrearages were consequently accumulated with the cus- 
tomary doomage. ., , . . ^1 

This condition was a source of much tribulation to the 
early settlers, and continued to be so for many years. 

LITTLETON. 

The territorv of Apthorp, in 1784, so far as it had not 
been sold to actual settlers, was in the hands of a very few 
persons. They petitioned the legislature for a division of 
Apthorp. An act was passed, in accordance with the desires 
of the proprietors, on the 4th of November, 1784. 

Bv this act, Col. Timothy Bedel was designated to call 
the fir^t meeting of the new town ; but before the occasion for 
performing this duty, he died, and, in his stead, John \oung 
of Gunthwaite was named by a subsequent act. By his 
agency, the town of Littleton was organized in 1787. Ihe 
other part of Apthorp took the name of Dalton. 

To-day we celebrate the centennial anniversary ot that 

event. 

STATE TAXES IN LITTLETON. 

The new town was harrassed by the state treasurer's de- 
mands for over-due taxes, as its predecessor, Apthorp, had 



*Josh Billings. 

jNew Hampshire Town Papers, Hammond. Vol. 12, p. 425. 



i6 

been. ^None had yet been paid for any of the years since 
1776. At length, such effectual representations were made to 
the legislature that the relieving act of June 29, 1787, was 
passed. By its provisions all taxes, except the portion laid 
on lands, from 1776 to 1784, were abated, and those on lands 
were reduced one-half. The proportion of Littleton in the 
Apthorp arrearages was fixed at seven-twelfths. State taxes, 
accruing prior to the division, were to be levied in the man- 
ner first indicated, and those accruing subsequently would 
fall upon both real and personal estate. Distinct tax bills were 
to be provided for the two periods. 

The extents of the treasurer were stayed until the next 
session of the legislature. 

This act failed to give the relief sought for by the inhab- 
itants. January 27, i7^9' ^fter more representations and pe- 
titions, and action by the town, recorded as follows in the 
town books : — " March ye 17th, 1788 " * * " Capt. Peleg 
Williams voted an agent to go to the Ginrel Court, to receive 
Five Dollars in Cashand twelve Bushels of wheat for his 
services," they procured legislation which enabled them to 
" assess and cause to be collected all publick taxes due there- 
from, prior to the first day of January 1789, on the lands 
of the proprietors of said town, in one tax bill, in way and 
manner as taxes by law are collected of non-resident proprie- 
tors in other towns." 

Another difficulty was then discovered. It was in the 
application of the method stated in the last clause above quo- 
ted, for Littleton was not lotted and divided as other towns 
had been. The legislature was informed that the unsettled 
part of the entire town was held in a body by the proprietary. 
Therefore, the inhabitants prayed for an act enabling them to 
assess and collect the tax due from the " town, in one tax bill, 
on the lands therein, not confining them to any particular 
rights, but to sell as much of said lands in one body as will 
pay the tax." 

They did not obtain this request. A general law was 
enacted, February 22, 1794? under which, in connection with 
the special legislation previously obtained, they attempted to 



17 

lay a tax and raise money to meet the arrears. This is the 
town record, of date March lo, 1795 : " Voted for Mr. James 
Rankin, to go to General Coiu-t to settle Back Taxes." 

On the petition of James Rankin, the town agent, another 
special act was passed, June 18, 1795, relative to these arrears 
of taxes, which had not yet been raised and paid to the state 
and county. 

It provided for the reduction of the paper taxes to seven 
shillings specie for every twenty shillings paper. Modern 
politicians have not suffered this method to become a lost art. 
It is now termed readjtist?nent. The act also provided that 
the extents against the town be again stayed for a limited 
period, and powers were given certain officials, similar to 
those granted by the act of February 22, 1794. 

The an-earages were afterwards disposed of without any 
further special action by the legislature. Special acts, how- 
ever, were repeatedly passed, in the few years previous to 
1805, to aid the town, by way of extra taxation of proprietary 
and other lands, in the matter of providing liighways and 
bridges for the accommodation of the public travel. 

Otherwise, the business of municipal taxation here has 
generally proceeded according to the provisions of the general 
law. 

THE STATE AND THE HIGHWAYS OF LITTLETON. 

The proprietors, as the early settlers state in their peti- 
tion to the legislature, promised to make good roads through 
the town, but had been guilty of neglect in this respect. Of 
course something in the nature of highways had existed, but, 
if ever of any considerable utility, they had, at this time, 
fallen into the most wretched condition. Hence the state was 
importuned to relieve the people by special legislation. Of 
the urgent necessities of the case, something may be learned 
from the statement of Capt. Peleg Williams, agent of the 
town, dated June 16, 1788. He says :—" Although it is 
eighteen years since the town began to settle, there is but nine 
families in it at this time, and there is no mills in said town, 
nor can we git at any under fifteen miles, the Publick Road 



that runs through said town is eleven miles in length, and al- 
most Impossible to pass in the same, which road your peti- 
tioners have to travel to get to mill, to market, to courts, and 
almost every kind of Business, so that your petitioners have 
got under such poor and difficult circumstances, that we can 
neither live in said town, nor move out of the same, except 
your honors will Interpose in our behalf." 

This, and like appeals, met with an efficient, but perhaps 
rather tardy response from the state. 

The town was authorized to tax non-residents for the pur- 
pose, and a road was laid out and built by a committee, from 
Dalton line, passing down from North Littleton, nearly on the 
present route, to the vicinity of what is now the site of the 
old town house ; thence across what is now the Elijah Fitch 
place, to the vicinity of the Griggs cross road, but running 
along the ridge of the hill, west of that road as it now is, and 
from thence down the Ammonoosuc valley to Gunthwaite 
line. A detailed plan and survey of this route is recorded in 
the state secretary's office at Concord. 

The well known Bucknam committee were also given 
authority, by the act of September 26, 1786, to construct a 
road from the vicinity of the present White Mountain House, 
near Fabyan's, on the Cohos and Conway road, to Littleton 
and Gunthwaite. 

By these measures on the part of the state, and by local 
co-operation, the people in a few years obtained suitable high- 
ways, whereby they could either ''live in the town, or move 
out of the same." 

Legislation followed in relation to ferries, bridges, turn- 
pikes, canals and, later on, railways. There is not space here 
to particularize on these topics. 

THE EARLY REPRESENTATION OF LITTLETON. 

Upon the adoption of the constitution of 1784, "i very 
large legislative class was constituted, which included all the 
towns north of Haverhill, and west of the mountains. The 
second year a division was, or had been, effected, and Little- 



19 

ton was associated with Batli, Landaft', Lyman, Concord and 
Dalton. (The compilers of the appendix to Rev. David 
Sutherland's historical discourse at Bath are in error on their 
page 98, as to the representative class.) This arrangement 
continued till 1793, when Lancaster, Littleton, Dartmouth 
and Dalton were classed. In iSoo, the next change was made, 
Littleton, Bethlehem and Dalton being classed, and so con- 
tinuing till 1S08. From that year this town had the privilege 
of separate representation, which it has never failed to utilize. 
Previous to 1809, but three Littleton men had been represen- 
tatives. They were James Williams, in 1794? James Rankin, 
in 17985 and David Goodall, who was chosen by the Little- 
ton, Bethlehem and Dalton class, seven years in succession, 
beginning with the year iSoo. 

These were all Federalists. The}- served before the days 
of railways and complimentary railroad passes, and appear to 
have been almost invariably at their official posts. 

It may be of interest to glance at the indications found in 
the legislative journals, as to their opinions and actions on 
public measures. 

Capt. Williams was one of the majority who voted the 
authority to the Governor, on requisition of the President of 
the United States, to march the state militia into anv state in 
the Union, but he also voted for the vigorous protest that was 
sent to congress, against the encroachments of the federal 
courts upon state rights and state court jurisdiction in the 
matter or The Mc Clary ^* a case which was famous in its day. 
He favored the removal of the chief justice of the state from 
his office, and supported John Langdon for United States Sen- 
ator, against James Sheafe. He voted to ratify the amend- 
ment of the constitution of the United States, which was sub- 
mitted to that legislature. The state debt was scaled down at 
that time, and he voted with the readjusters. The description 
of the condition of Littleton, and the burdens of taxation, un- 
der which it labored at this time, already given, explain the 
attitude of Mr. Williams on this subject. 

*Barstow'8 History, N. H., p. 304. 



20 

Sqine of the matters that engaged the attention of Repre- 
sentative Rankin were perhaps of less general interest. He 
opposed the incorporation of a Baptist society at Northwood, 
and antagonized the proposed exceptions to the statute of lim- 
itations, calculated to keep alive certain stale claims. He de- 
voted some friendly official attention to the animal kingdom, 
being a member of a committee to frame a deer law, and 
opposing the bill providing for a bounty on crows. Mr. Ran- 
kin was a rigorous Presbyterian, but believing, it may be pre- 
sumed, that 

"He prayeth well, who loveth well 
Both man, and bird, and beast." 

his love for the Baptists was manifested in a spirit of scrip- 
tural "chastening." He voted to sustain the President incase 
of war with France. 

Mr. Goodall was a college graduate and a retired clergy- 
man. He became an experienced legislator, and was often 
designated to act upon important committees. His repeated 
elections by his neighbors of the three towns attest his use- 
fulness as a representative, and his fidelity to his constituents. 

A detailed examination of the records of our later repre- 
sentatives in the general court might be made interesting, but 
it would more properly come within the domain of the town 
historian. 

PARTY RELATIONS. 

There is veiy little on the town records, until the begin- 
ning of the present century, to indicate the existence of a 
division of the people of Littleton on state or national pol- 
itics. The inhabitants were Federalists, and practically unani- 
mous in that faith. In 1801, however, nine citizens ventured 
to vote for Timothy Walker, the Democratic candidate (then 
termed Republican) , against John Taylor Oilman, who had 
twenty-nine votes, and, as usual, was elected in the state. In 
the intervening years, between this and 1805 (in which year 
Langdon was elected over Oilman) the Federalist majority 
averaged about two to one. This year Oilman, had 44, and 
Langdon 43. The next year, 1806, the vote stood, for Lang- 



21 

don 43, Oilman 40, and Jeremiah Smith 3. The next year, 
Langdon again obtained a majority, and in 1808, only a plu- 
rality. In the fall elections of that year, for congressmen and 
electors, a great advance was made in the Federal vote. It is 
recorded as 106 to 13, in August, and in November, as 73 to 
19. The Federal candidates continued to receive similar ma- 
jorities until 1S20. when Samuel Bell, Democrat, i"eceived 104, 
the whole vote, tlie Federalist and Democratic candidates for 
councillor receiving 66 and 40 votes respectively. The 
Plumer electoral ticket had 29 votes, all that were cast. Gov- 
ernor Bell, again in 1S21, obtained a unanimous endorsement — 
124 votes. The councillor vote at the same time was 75 to 
45 in favor of the Federal candidates. In 1823, the candidates 
for governor, Levi Woodbury and Samuel Dinsmore, were 
both Democrats, and their vote here was 102 to 4 in favor of 
the former. At this period the Federal partv appears to have 
become extinct, and the voters subsequently divided politically 
as Adams or Jackson men. The next year Governor Wood- 
bury received a large majority over all othei's in this place. 
In the presidential election of 1824 there was no division. 
The Adams Republicans had the whole. In the election of 
1825, the town gave Morrill (Adams candidate), loi, and 
Woodbury (Jackson) 2. In 1S26, Morrill (A.), had 95, 
and Benjamin Pierce (J.) 13. Next year the figures seem to 
be substantially reversed. Pierce having 106, Morrill 2, Har- 
vey 16, and two scattering. About this time the people of Lit- 
tleton seem to have first seriouslv divided themselves as 
partisans of Jackson and Adams. In 1828, Bell, the Adams 
candidate for governor, had 107, against 70 for Pierce, who 
bore the Jackson standard. The Adams electoral ticket ob- 
tained 135 votes, against 83 of the Jackson party. The Adams 
party maintained a similar ascendancy until the presidential 
election of 1S32, in which the Jackson ticket had So, Clay 78, 
and an Anti-Masonic partv, on whose ticket General David 
Rankin of this place appeared for elector, polled 25 votes. 

It was at this period that the opposition to the Jackson 
Democracy assumed the partv name of Whigs. That party 
flourished for some twentv or twentv-five vears. 



The next two March elections, 1833 and 1834, showed a 
Democratic majority. In 1835, Healey, the Wliig candidate for 
governor, secured 96 votes, Badger, Democrat, 93, and Simeon 
B. Johnson, 3. The next year. Governor Hill had 95 votesj 
against 18 for Badger, also a Democrat, and there were five scat- 
tering. In the fall, the Democratic electors had 70 votes, a 
majority of 18 over the Whigs. In 1837, Governor Hill re- 
ceived 104 votes, all that were cast for governor. There was 
a party contest for town representative, in which Capt. Ab- 
bott, Whig, was elected by 13 majority. 

' From this time on, until 1842, there was a considerable 

Whig majority at every election. At the March election of 
that year, the Independent Democracy, of ^vhich John H. 
White was the gubernatorial candidate, first developed 
strength in town, he having 33 votes. Stevens, Whig, had 
176, and Hubbard, Democrat, 131. Next year, Colby (W.) 
had 141, Hubbard (D.) 116, and White, 33 again. In 1844, 
Steele (D.) had 157, and Colby (W.), 154. In the presi- 
dential election of that year, the Democrats cast 174 votes, the 
Whigs 167, the Free Soil, or Liberty Party, 4, and a ticket for 
Edmund Carleton had one. In 1845, Steele (D.) had 160, 
Colby (W.), 138, and Daniel Hoit, Free Soiler, 29. At this 
time, Hoit had been the candidate of the Free Soil party, in 
five successive annual elections, but this was the first one in 
which he had received a vote in Littleton. The next year, 
1846, and in 1847, Colby (W.) had a majority over Williams, 
(D.) ; but the balance of power laid with the Free Soil vote 
of 34, given each year for N. S. Berry. In 1848, he, being a 
general candidate for both the Whigs and the Free Soilers, 
had a vote here of 217, against 193 for Williams (D.). In 
the presidential election, the Democratic electors had 170, 
Whig, 155, Free Soil, 39, scattering, 3. Each year follow- 
ing, except 1850, until the next presidential election, the 
Whig ticket had a plurality over the Democrats. With the 
same exception, the Free Soilers held the balance of power, 
their vote being, in 1849, ^5 ' '^^ 1850, 16; in 1851, 29; and 
1852 (March), 31. In 1850, the Democrats had a majority 
of eleven over all. The Pierce presidential ticket carried the 



23 



town by a ^..ajority of i8 over all.-the Free Sod vote being 
To M the next four gubernatorial elections, the Democratic 
candidates had a plurality, and a majority also except m 
,855, when Baker (D.) had 306, Metcalf (Amencan o. 
Know Nothing), 153, Bell (W.),73,-d bowler (F S ) 
I. The Free Soil vote for these four years averaged about 
18 In 1858, Haile, the Republican candidate had 247, against 
22A for Gate. Democrat. At the presidential election of i860, 
the Lincoln ticket had 334, Douglas, 194, the American party, 
6, Breckenbridge, 5, and Pierce, i. 

At every general election from 1S56 to the present time, 
except in 1S58 (state), and i860 (presidential), the Demo- 
cratic party has had a majority in Littleton. 

The first vote of the Republican party in this town was 
in the presidential election of 1856, when in a total pol of 
480, FrLont had 338, and Buchanan 341. At the U.s ekc- 
tion the total vote was 80S, of which Samuel W. Hale, Re- 
publican had 394, M. V. B. Edgerly, Democrat, 412, and a 
Temperance ticket two. 

In all the foregoing statistics of elections, reference is 
made to the vote for governor in this town, unless it is other- 
wise explicitly stated. 



CONCLUSION. 



During the first and larger part of the century of muni- 
cipal history, which we are reviewing today, Littleton was 
not very near the front rank of the northern towns in po- 
litical o'r business influence. Haverhill, Bath and Lancaster 
long continued to be the centres of political power social 
influence and business enterprise. But of these Lancas- 
ter alone has maintained its position. When, in ^ §53, the 
railroad found a terminus at this point, the town had 
never had a bank or an academy. Its first newspaper was 
only one year old. It had never been repi-esented upon ^he 
benches of the inferior or superior courts of the state. It had 
had but one state senator, and he, as the political phrase goes, 
had "died a yearling." It had been represented m the ex- 
ecutive department by one councillor for the two years of 



24 

1832 and 1833. Not one of its representatives had been so 
much as the candidate of either party for speaker of the 
house, or president of the senate. Both political parties 
almost invariably went elsewhere for candidates for important 
offices. Henry A. Bellows, who was a candidate for con- 
gress, and Nathaniel Rix, were the principal exceptions to the 
rule. Haverhill, Bath and Lancaster were the homes of our 
congressmen, governors and political leaders. In the rolls of 
the soldiery of the wars of 1S13, and with Mexico, the name 
of Littleton is rarely found. Among the bold battalions that 
did duty at Cobleigh's Meadow, however, it cannot be said 
that our citizens did not accomplish eminence. Were such 
an assertion ventured, the melon stained swords of Gen. Ran- 
kin, Col. Moffitt, Col. Eastman, Maj. Thayer, Maj. Bellows, 
Maj. Brackett and Capt. Bingham, might rattle ominously in 
their scabbards. 

There was but one church edifice ; and it is intimated by 
the Rev. E. Irving Carpenter, in his sketch of his own, the Con- 
gregationalist church, that the people had always been rather 
backv\^ard in spiritual matters.* 

The advent of railway communication seems to mark, 
approximately, the beginning of a revolution in the develop- 
ment of the town, and in its relations with the state at large. 

An estimate of the influence that the town has acquired 
and exerted in the state, that would be satisfactory or approx- 
imately correct, cannot be made. Some of its elements may 
be pointed out and briefly considered. 

The constantly increasing variety of commodities pro- 
duced or consumed in our midst, the improved facilities for 
transportation and communication, the constant interchange 
of ideas through the public prints, the diversification of em- 
ployments, the changes in the constituents of population, and 
in the habits, interests, necessities and notions of the people, 
have wrought a revolution in the relations of this town and 
the commonwealth, within the century now ended. 

Each of the church organizations, each of the so-called 

*N. H. Churches, p. 556. 



25 

secret societies, the societies for the promotion of temperance 
and morality, some of the principal branches of trade and la- 
bor, the learned professions, the veterans of the war, the Pat- 
rons of Husbandry, now severally constitute, in the town, 
organized sections of state organizations of the same activities. 
Delegates periodically meet in council. 

The interests of the town are represented in the delibera- 
tions as to the greatest interest of the whole. The influence 
of the town is not lost, but is combined, and the aggregate is 
made effective. Local interests and energies are thus federal- 
ized. All these organizations, gathering strength from all 
directions, and employing it in all the avenues in which it 
may be effective, are rendering the relations of the municipal- 
ities and the state exceedingly complex and difficult of analysis. 

Other forces in our midst are even more systematically 
and effectively organized upon a similar basis. 

This is an age of caucus government. We have come to 
look, in the main, to party organizations for the men and 
measures that give vitality and character to the political policy 
of the state. The policy of the party that is in the ascendan- 
cy is not altogether, or indeed very largely, a matter of its 
own deliberate choice. It is governed in no slight degree by 
the strength and character of the opposition. 

Viewing the important political movements of the past 
thirty years with reference to these considerations, it will be 
observed that this town has not been without inffuence in the 
politics and statesmanship of New Hampshire in the period 
in question ; and that this influence has been constant and un- 
wavering. It is for otners to consider it in comparison with 
that of other communities. It may, however, be asserted 
here, with propriety and truth, that at least in a third j^art of 
the century under review the town has been actively, contin- 
uously and prominently represented in political controversy 
and party councils, and the history of the political parties of 
that period is, in no small degree, the history of men of Lit- 
tleton. 

More especially for twenty-five years just passed, the town 
has given to the service of the state, as a part of its represen- 



26 

tation, men of prominent ability. While many other constit- 
uencie's have been represented hardly more than in name, here 
somebody has been advanced, and kept at the front, under a 
rule that finds availability in experience and capacity for lead- 
ership. There has been no hesitancy in ignoring that doc- 
trine of rotation in office which would supplant experience 
and fitness, by the advancement of inexperienced mediocrity. 
By these means the relations of the town to political move- 
ments and organizations, to measures and matters that have 
demanded consideration in administrative, judicial and legis- 
lative stations, have been rendered worthy of attention. As 
to this point, the public records of the state, the columns of 
the contemporary press and current history, yield evidence 
that is abundant and suggestive. 

In the general jurisprudence of the state, influences have 
emanated from this place, and had an effect which is recog- 
nized by all who are familiar with the subject. From the bar 
of Littleton, Bellows, Rand and Bingham have gone upon 
the bench. The influence of these, and their brethren who 
have long been known and felt in the deliberations of legisla- 
tures, or in the contests of the courts, will be a part of the 
theme of another on this occasion. 

Almost the whole body of the case law, now recognized 
and embodied in the sixty volumes of New Hampshire court 
reports, has grown up in the time of these men ; and in the 
growth of that system of law, their brain work is interwoven 
for all time. 

The great corporations of the state have arisen in the 
period over which the professional careers of the oldest and 
ablest of our own jurists extend. Under their official or pro- 
fessional scrutiny, has passed much of the most important 
legislation, granting powers and privileges to, or restraining 
those great institutions. An irrfportant portion of it has 
emanated directly from them, or has been moulded by their 
judgment, counsel and criticism, or has felt the impress of 
their opposition or advocac}'. 

In innumerable other directions the town has borne hon- 
orable relations with its state. It is impossible to follow the 



27 



subject further, even within its most accessible limits. 

In a vast number of business enterprises our citizens 
have put forth energies to the advantage of their fellows^ 
Thev have made the forests and mountain scenery, the rugged 
farms and the mountain waterfalls, pay rich tribute to the 
industrv and capital of the state. They have borne well 
their part in the public burdens of peace and of war. 

While the town has thus contributed to the strength and 
integrity of the state, the state has protected the town in 
peace, prosperity and security. , , ^^ 

As a member of a republic of towns, and as a ocal de- 
mocracy of the old New England type, the lot of this town 
has been equally fortunate. r , a 

It stands, at the conclusion of a hundred years of hard 
and often doubtful struggle, in the fair prospect of a future 
which shall be no less creditable to itself, and no less useful to 
the state, than has been its past.^ 



APPENDIX. 



TABLE I. 
State and County Officials from Littleton. 

Supreme Court Judge, Geo. A. Bingham, - 1876 to 188^ 

1884 to 



Congressman, Evarts W. Farr, - - - 1S78 to 1880 

Presidential Elector, Henry L. Tilton, - - 1880. 

Speaker H. of R., Edgar Aldrich, - - 1885. 

Clerk, " James R. Jackson, - - 1871. 

Councillor, Nathaniel Rix, - - - 1832 to 1833 

" Cyrus Eastman, _ . . 1859. 

" Evarts W. Farr, - - - 1876. 

" A. S. Batchellor, - - - 1887 to 1889 

*State Senator, Simeon B. Johnson, - - 1841. 

" George A. Bingham, - - 1864 to 1865 

" James J. Barrett, - - 1872. 

" Harry Bingham, - - - 1883 to 1887 
Trustee State Normal School, Geo. A. Bingham, 1871 to 1877 

Lake Commissioner, John Farr, - - - 1879- 
Mem. State Board of Agriculture, C. M. Tuttle, 1879 to 1882 

County Solicitor, Charles W. Rand, - - 1855 to i860 

" ^' Evarts W. Farr, - - '73, & '76-78 

" " John M. Mitchell, - - 1878 to 1880 

A. S. Batchellor, - - 1880 to 1882 

fCommissioner, John Sargent, - . . 1856. 

John Farr, - - - 1862 to 1865 

Treasurer, Henry W. Rowell, . _ . 1859 to 1861 

" Porter B. Watson, - - - 18S3 to 1885 

§ Sheriff; B. H. Corning, - - - - 1885 to 1889 

*Hon. John G. Sinclair and Hon. Henry L. Watson, M.D., had been State Sen- 
ators before becoming residents of the town, the former in New Hampshire and 
the latter in Vermont. 

jMr. Farr was re-elected to the office of County Commissioner in 1868, but re- 
signed after holding the office three months. 

§Mr. Corning was Sheriff of Coos County from 1866 to 1871, by executive ap- 
pointment, and Col. Timothy A. Edson, who had been Sheriff of Grafton County 
from 1813 to 1818, was a resident here from 1824 to 1845. 



TABLE II. 
Federal Officials of Littleton. 

) (Not Including those that were merely local.) 

Treasury Agent, Harry Bingham, - - 1867. 

Assessor of Internal Revenue, Evarts W. Farr, 1869 to 1872 

District Attorney, Charles W. Rand, - - 1861 to 1871 



TABLE III. 

Delegates in Constitutional Convention. 

1775. Apthorp Class, - Abijah Larned of Cockburne 

1778. " " None sent 

1781. ct u .... *David Page 

1788. Littleton Class, - - - - Samuel Young 

1791. u ct _ . . . Peter Carlton 

n ;( j Eben Eastman 

^ " " ■ ( Marquis L. Goold 

{Harry Bingham 
John Farr 
Cyrus Eastman 

*This name is given in N. H. Register, 1852, p. 25, as " by tradition from Con- 
way," for the " Lancaster, &c., &c.," class. By reference to vol. 8, Province 
Papers, p 800, it will be seen that on the 6th November, 1778, the Assembly voted 
to make a separate class of Conway, Shelburne and the locations adjacent. It 
woul.i appear, therefore, that if David Page was from Conway, he did not repre- 
sent the Lancaster- Apthorp class. As to David Page, of Lancaster, see Town 
Papers, Hammond, vol. 12, p. 352 ft stq. 



TABLE IV. 
Delegates to National ConTentions. 

i860. Dem. Charleston and Baltimore, Geo. A. Bingham 
1866. Peace. Philadelphia, - - - Harry Bingham 

1872. Dem. Baltimore, - - - - " " 

1880. " Cincinnati, - - - " " 

1S84. " Chicago. - - - - " " 

1884. " Chicago, for Vermont, W. A. Richardson 

1868. Right Worthy Grand Lodge Good 

Templars, Richmond, Ind., - Evarts W. Farr 

1884. National Encampment, G. A. R., 

Minneapolis, Minn., - . . George Farr 

1883, American Medical Society, Balti- 
more, Md., - - Frank T. Moflett, M.D. 
i885-'86. National Encampment, G. A. R., 

Portland and San Francisco, - - George Farr 

i885-'86. National Association, W. C. 
T. U., Philadelphia and 

Minneapolis, - - Mrs. N. H. Knox 

Mr. Bingham attended the convention of 1868, as proxy 
for Hon. Josiah Minot, who was the member of the Demo- 
cratic National Committee for this state. Mr. Bingham was 
chosen by that convention as the member of the National 
Committee for New Hampshire, and filled that position until 
1872. 



TABLE V. 
Military Aids to Governors. 

1854. Col. Frank A. Eastman, to - - Gov. Bakei' 

i860. " Henry W. Rowell, to - - Gov. Goodwin 

1 87 1. " Charles A. Sinclair, to - - Gov. Weston 

1872. " Henry L. Tilton, to - - - Gov. Strav^ 
Col. Joseph L. Gibb of Carroll, of Gov. Martin's staff, 

and Col. Charles H. Greenleaf of Franconia, of Gov. Pres- 
cott's staff, were regarded, in a measure, as Littleton men, 
though occupied largely in hotel enterprises at other places of 
domicile. Evarts W. Farr was tendered a staff appointment 
by one of the governors, but declined it, prefering to be known 
in military parlance only as ''the major." 



TABLE VL 
Social and Professional Organizations. 

State Homceopathic Medical Society- 

T. E. Sanger, President, iS78-'79-'8o 
Grand Comtnayidery of Knights Templar . 

Chauncey H. Greene, Grand Commander, 1S77 
Departfnent of Nezv Hampshire.^ G. A. H. 

George Farr, Department Commander. 1SS6 
Women's Christian Temperance Unioti^ N. H. Div. 

Mrs. N. H. Knox, President, i885-'86 



TABLE VII. 

Showing the Tote of Littleton at each General Election 
Since 1860. 







Dem. 


Rep. 


3d Party. 


Scat. 


i860. 


Gov. 


257 


224 








I86I. 


a 


232 


219 






I 


1862. 


a 


255 


210 


I. D. 


7 




1863. 


a 


279 


191 


u 


6 




1864. 


a 


273 


205 








1864. 


Prest. 


262 


203 








186=;. 


Gov. 


243 


171 








1866. 


a 


254 


196 








1867. 


(( 


315 


211 






4 


1868. 


(( 


391 


238 








1868. 


Prest. 


272 


250 








1869. 


Gov. 


345 


241 








1870. 


a 


319 


247 


Lib. R. 


22 




I87I. 


n 


324 


236 








1872. 


a 


360 


267 


Lib. R. 


I 


T. I. 


1872. 


Prest. 


352 


256 








1873- 


Gov. 


330 


252 


Lib. R. 


8 




1874. 


a 


330 


262 


Temp. 


2 




1875. 


(t 


367 


260 


u 


5 




1876. 


a 


367 


292 








1876. 


Prest. 


350 


323 








1877. 


Gov. 


365 


315 








1878. 


u 


382 


303 








1878. 


i I 


364 


312 


G. B. 


28 




1880. 


Prest. 


411 


356 


Temp. 


3 


G.B. I 


1882. 


Gov. 


412 


394 


i i 


2 




1884. 


Prest. 


339 


493 


(( 


16 




1886. 


Gov. 


297 


434 


u 


41 





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